By Jim Whitt Contributing Editor
If you want to get your kicks on Route 66, I suggest you stop halfway between Tulsa and Joplin on the Mother Road (or I-44) and dine at Piquet’s Prime Time, located just north of Vinita, Oka.
The founder and owner of Piquet’s Prime Time is Carolyn Piguet. My wife, Sondra, had the opportunity to learn about Carolyn’s farm-to-fork business model when she attended a luncheon with the Lakeside Garden Club at the restaurant. She was so impressed with Carolyn’s presentation that I wanted to hear – to paraphrase Paul Harvey – the rest of her story. So, I called her, and she agreed to meet with Sondra and me at her home on her farm.
It didn’t take long to figure out she had spent many years as a classroom teacher. I had to laugh when she explained how to pronounce her name, “It’s pig with an A behind it.” In my mind’s eye I could see her writing “Pig A” on the chalkboard for her students on the first day of school. I’ll bet they all laughed, too. But I’ll bet they never forgot her or how to pronounce her name.
Piguet’s Prime Time overlooks a pond on Carolyn’s farm. The landscaping features native rock and prairie grass. Inside, the walls are adorned with western artwork, rodeo posters, Pendleton blankets, assorted cowboy trappings and mounted buffalo heads. The appropriately named Buffalo Bar provides patrons with a cozy place to visit over drinks. What really caught my eye though, were the many plaques honoring Carolyn for her many years as an award-winning vocational ag instructor. The menu was mounted on a decorative board with her brand burnished on the backside with the restaurant name and the words: Farm to Fork, Wood Fired to Perfection. Count decorating, marketing and branding among Carolyn’s many talents.
The restaurant was packed on the evening we ate there, and Carolyn went from table to table visiting with people, assisted by Rio, her 9-year-old granddaughter. It was fun watching Rio learn the trade from her grandmother, clearing dishes and pushing tables and chairs back in place. I ordered the Wagyu bone-in ribeye and Sondra had the pork tenderloin with a balsamic mushroom onion sauce. Being an old meats team member, I am a chef’s worst nightmare when ordering a steak. I asked that my ribeye be cooked between medium-rare leaning toward medium and it arrived perfectly prepared. I was impressed. After the main course, our server, Megan, recommended bread pudding for dessert, and we’re glad she did. It was the perfect end to an excellent meal and Megan was an excellent server.
Piguet’s Prime Time also hosts special events at the restaurant and outdoors on the property as well as catering functions. Farm to fork is not just a marketing mantra for Carolyn. She raises much of the beef for her operation with a small herd of Hereford-Angus cows bred to a Wagyu bull. When demand outstrips her beef supply Creekstone Farms fills the void. Poultry, pork, eggs and dairy products are all locally sourced. Produce is raised by Amish farmers in a nearby community. Everything served is made from scratch.
Although Piguet’s has only been in business since 2023, it gets rave reviews on Open Table and Google. It’s been featured on an episode of America’s Best Restaurants.
Carolyn grew up on a wheat farm in western Oklahoma and tells how her mother would drop the kids off at one end of a field, line them up and have them march to the other end of the field collecting tumbleweeds. That was where she learned her work ethic. Although she earned her college degree in biology, she later earned a certificate to teach agricultural education. She had no experience in the restaurant business but that didn’t stop her from building a restaurant.
Since the restaurant is located on her farm, she tells people it’s like coming to her house for a meal. While they visit she shares her farm-to-fork journey. And when they leave, she feels like she has new friends. You see, Caroyn Piguet is still an educator; she just has a bigger classroom. It’s called Piguet’s Prime Time.
